Two former Parramatta Eels players are accused of harbouring semi-automatic weapons and possessing more than half-a-million dollars in cash after dramatic arrests in Sydney's Centennial Park yesterday.

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"These brutal and appalling attacks took the lives of many innocent people during a day of religious worship," Ms Bishop said.

Labor leader Bill Shorten and his foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong described the attacks as barbaric.

"An attack on any place of religion is an attack on freedom of religion everywhere," they said in a statement.

"Labor expresses our support and deepest sympathy to the families of those affected and for the 100,000 Australians of the Coptic faith who are part of our community."

Labor MP Peter Khalil, has an Egyptian Coptic Christian background and has family in Cairo and Alexandria.

"It is personal in many respects for me," he told Sky News.

The former foreign policy and national security adviser said Coptics were an easy target for Islamic State extremists.

"We should be calling on the Egyptian government to provide enhanced security for the Coptic churches," he said.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has announced a three-month state of emergency following the deadly bombings.

The first, in Tanta, a Nile Delta city about 100km north of Cairo, tore through the inside of St George Church during its Palm Sunday service, killing at least 27 people and injuring at least 78, the Ministry of Health said.

The second, carried out a few hours later by a suicide bomber in Alexandria, hit Saint Mark's Cathedral, the historic seat of the Coptic Pope, killing 17 people, including three police officers, and injuring 48.

* Australians concerned about the safety of family or friends who may have been affected should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Within Australia: 1300 555 135